The present invention relates to illumination modules and in particular to illumination modules having Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs).
LEDs are known and, when placed on an electrical circuit, accept electrical impulses from the circuit and convert the impulses into light signals. LEDs are energy efficient, they give off virtually no heat, and they have a long lifetime. It is known that combining the projected light of an LED having one color with the projected light of an LED having another color will result in the creation of a third color. It is also known that almost any color in the visible spectrum can be achieved by combining in various proportions LEDs that are of the three most commonly used primary colors (i.e., red, green and blue). It should be understood that for purposes of this invention the term xe2x80x9cprimary colorsxe2x80x9d encompasses any different colors that can be combined to create other colors.
FIG. 2 shows a typical example of the utilization of dimming switch 2 to light incandescent light bulb 57. (Note: the term xe2x80x9clampxe2x80x9d may be used herein to refer to light sources, including light bulbs. Devices in which lamps are installed and which provide electric power to the lamp may be referred to as a light fixture or a lamp system.) A dimmer switch is a well known electrical component that allows for the adjustment of light levels from nearly dark to fully lit simply by turning a knob or sliding a lever. It is common, for example, to find a dimmer switch in the living room of a user""s home.
Traditional dimmer switches utilize a variable resistor in series with the lamp. As the resistance increases, there is a voltage drop across the lamp and the brightness of the lamp decreases. As the resistance decreases, the voltage through the circuit increases and the brightness of the lamp increases.
Modern dimmer switches are found in alternating current (AC) circuits. A triode alternating current switch (also called a triac) is used to rapidly turn a light circuit on and off to reduce the energy flowing to the light bulb. The modern dimmer switch basically xe2x80x9cchops upxe2x80x9d the sine wave. It automatically shuts the circuit off every time the current reverses direction (i.e., whenever there is zero voltage running through the circuit). In the United States, this happens twice per cycle or 120 times per second. Then, it turns the circuit back on when the voltage climbs back to a certain level.
LED illumination modules that are able to emit a variety of colors are known. However, they tend to be complicated devices. For example, the illumination module ColorScape 22 manufactured by Color Kinetics is available. This module is attached to a connection that is usually used to receive a regular incandescent light bulb. The change of the displayed color of the prior art LED illumination module is achieved by the user manually switching the light on an off within a programmed pre-determined period of time. The LED module has a series of preset color and effect modes that have been programmed into the LED module. If the user turns on and off the light with the time allowed, a new color or mode will be displayed. This module is designed to work on circuits having a regular on/off switch. This module will not work properly if installed on a circuit having a dimmer switch. Also, in order to achieve a desired color the user needs to know beforehand the amount of time he needs to take between turning the switch on and off. This knowledge is not intuitive and requires careful reading of an instruction manual.
What is needed is a better LED illumination module.
The present invention provides a multicolor lamp system. The multicolor lamp system includes a dimming circuit and an illumination module electrically connected to the dimming circuit. The illumination module has a detection circuit for detecting the output of the dimming circuit. The detection circuit generates a detection signal corresponding to the output of the dimming circuit. A microcontroller is programmed to receive the detection signal and to supply a corresponding electrical signal to a plurality of LEDs. The LEDs are able to generate a variety of colors corresponding to the electrical signal supplied from the microcontroller. In a preferred embodiment the illumination module also includes an infrared receiver.